1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to seating apparatus and, more specifically, to a Sun-tracking Chair.
2. Description of Related Art
There are many shapes, sizes and configurations of outdoor lounge chairs. The typical prior outdoor lounge chair comprises a leg rest, a center section and a back rest. Generally, the leg rest and back rest can be angularly adjusted to provide the maximum comfort to the user in a variety of situations. In particular, where the user desires to sunbathe on the prior chair, he or she will set the incline of the backrest such that when lying on the chair, his or her torso is perpendicular to the azimuth of the sun. It is in such a configuration that the user will receive the maximum incident sun rays and, therefore the best tanning potential.
The problem with these prior chairs is that the sun's azimuth is constantly changing during the day. Since the typical backrest on the prior chairs is only adjustable manually, the user typically adjusts the incline of the backrest to match the sun's azimuth at that particular point in time. He or she then sunbathes until the azimuth has changed a substantial amount at which time, the user manually readjusts the backrest incline to match the sun's azimuth once again. As can be seen, the user's torso is only in the optimum sunbathing position for a short time after each incline adjustment. If better precision is desired, the user must manually readjust the incline more frequently--this can rapidly become a nuisance to the user. What is needed is a system that automatically adjusts the incline of the backrest of outdoor lounge chairs to track the azimuth of the sun.
Many times sunbather must make more adjustment to the chair than simply the backrest incline. If the sun is particularly low in the sky, the horizontal angle to the sun changes during the day, in addition to the azimuth changing. In order for the user to maintain perpendicularity with the sun rays in such cases, he or she must actually turn the chair to face the sun. Again, it becomes a nuisance "chasing" the sun across the sky. It would be very beneficial if the outdoor lounge chair would automatically rotate to track the sun's changes in horizontal angle.
The chair rotation problem becomes particularly troublesome where there is a dense concentration of chairs, such as around a swimming pool, where one chair cannot be easily rotated without disturbing the adjacent chairs. This phenomena is particularly bothersome on cruise ships, where many chairs are set close together and defined walkways must be left open for safety egress, the rotation space for chairs is thus severely limited. This situation is further exacerbated when the ship makes a turn, and the sun's angle is radically changed very quickly. It becomes a mass scramble for the sunbathers to jump up and readjust the configuration of their chairs, typically bumping into each other and generally causing significant frustration. It Would be very helpful if a row of chairs would automatically rotate in a synchronized fashion, so that they can be placed in close proximity to each other, yet afford the sunbather with consistent, optimum exposure to the sun without the need for any action on their part.
It would be further beneficial if the sun-tracking chair included a canopy thereover that cooperated with the chair backrest incline and rotation adjustments. In such a manner, users that don't desire sun, but simply want to lay outside along with their sunbathing friends will be protected by the sun, but will not interfere with the movements of the sunbathers.